In Spite Of
by corriente
Summary: Elinor can be bossy, loud and demanding... And she says many things. But she doesn't mean them all... And Darius? Well, he is always himself. Elinor/Darius, because you can't get tired of them.


_Huge thanks to __**Renoku **__for beta and the title!_

_The characters are not mine. If they were mine, I would make sure they have a proper happy ending._

_And I love romances with happy endings. Sadly, they don't seem to love me, but... who cares? I'm a terrible, terrible shipper and when you have Elinor and Darius... well, I couldn't hep it. So here it is. Enjoy!_

_ , where the hell are your line breaks..._

* * *

**_I say you are a poor comforter._**

Because when I cry, throw things and hit walls with my bare hands, but you do nothing to stop me. You wait until I scream out and when I don't have any more strength, you put your hand on my shoulder. And that's all, yet I stop crying.

Maybe it's not your merit; looking at your back, I wonder what a book hero would do.

"A knight on a white horse, you wanted to say," I correct myself. I suddenly feel sad, so I start to collect pieces of broken glass, injuring my fingers. Eventually you sigh, take the glass out of my hands and order me to get some sleep.

On an air mattress. In my own basement.

_**I say that a bit more and I think you're a coward.**  
_

You don't want to get us to Inkworld, because you're scared. I know that. And I understand. I also have nightmares about Basta and every little thought about him showing up inside of my house fills me with fear. I am still mad at you, though, maybe because I miss Mo, Meggie and Resa so much.

But once we are in Inkworld, in this bloody beautiful book of Fenoglio, you don't run away from danger. To be honest, you know better than I do how to avoid it and you try to protect us.

And I don't know what to think anymore.

**_I say you annoy me._**

Because you never scream at me, ever, even when I do something so incredibly stupid that I bloody deserve it. You just look at me with those huge owl eyes and it makes me feel even worse.

Because you have a talent that I don't posses. At first I envy you, but later on, when I see how much harm can it do, I rather sympathize with you.

Because you can deal with situations which make me furious. When Orpheus locks us in my basement, you tell me what to do. When we come to Ombra, you drag me behind yourself, not letting me hurt myself. When we travel with Fenoglio, you're a Guardian Angel of all children.

And you can cook.

**_I say I don't notice the way you look at me._**

Well, yes, you do observe me, probably wondering, what would I come up with again. Or you control if I'm not doing anything stupid which would cause us trouble. Only sometimes we exchange looks full of understanding and I know we're thinking the same.

But I'm still 'that crazy woman', as Fenoglio puts it.

"Come on! If Maggie didn't need him so much to invent this happily-ever-after thing, you would cause him endless writer's block."

I'm not sure whether it is meant as a compliment or not, so I say:

"Wine does it faster."

**_I say we are only friends._**

"Because we are, aren't we?"

You finally put down a heavy piece of wood. We're helping Mo to build their new home - their own new place, close to Ombra and full of light - and we are exhausted.

"We are what?"

You stretch out your arms and smile with content, looking at your pile of wood. It's quite large, I must admit, a lot larger than mine. But that's not the point, anyway.

"Are we friends?"

I bite my lip and you turn to look at me with concern I can't recognize. For a brief moment I wonder what you'll say.

"Of course we are."

**_I say I don't feel anything towards you._**

But one night, when we visit Mo and Resa and none of us wish to go home, I wander outside, because I can't sleep. I don't go far away from the house; I just sit at the nearby stream and watch fairies' nests, hoping the Morpheus will come soon.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"And you?"

You sit beside me and rub your face.

"I can't. And it's hard to get a cup of warm milk with honey here."

"Exactly."

For a moment we just sit in silence. It's good to be silent in your company.

Eventually you ask, "Cold, isn't it?"

"Are we really so desperate to talk about weather?"

You laugh quietly. I hear a child's scream coming from the distance.

"Meggie's brother has woken up?" you guess.

"He doesn't like me much, you know."

"That's not true."

I throw you a grim look.

"Last time we saw each other he vomited on me. Not like I mind, though. Who'd like such a nasty woman like me?"

"I would."

For a moment I'm stunned by an answer to the rhetorical question.

"Even though I don't think before I say something and I'm an old hag?"

You smile in that characteristic manner that I'm so fond of.

"Well, you love to make arguments, but mostly you attack Fenoglio. You are hardly nasty - bossy, I would rather say. And about your age... Please, Elinor, don't make me even comment about it".

"But..."

"Elinor."

You study my face for couple of seconds and I go quiet.

"Have you ever heard that one loves not _because of _something but _in spite of _something?"

**_I lie._**


End file.
